The INC. Column.

High-flying Antics At A Fishhouse Full Of Hams

SEATTLE — At Pike Place Fish Co., theater and commerce converge into a uniquely Seattle hybrid. Sort of like what would happen if the Blue Man Group meets Charlie the Tuna.

It's late morning, and suddenly a cry erupts from one of the performers: "Smoked Red!" It is taken up by the others, repeated again and again in a seafaring call and response as a hefty chunk of Copper River smoked salmon is tossed from man to man to man until finally, the purchase is rung up and delivered into the arms of a highly amused customer.

His Willieness--San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown--certainly knows how to work a crowd. And should his next election prove to be a bust, he can always console himself with a new career as a stand-up comic. Speaking at the National Association of Black Journalists banquet held here over the weekend, Brown deadpanned: "I'm not accustomed to speaking without something to drink. They've provided me with absolutely nothing. So I've got some advice for you: At your next convention, get Anheuser, Miller or somebody to sponsor you." Whereupon he was showered with drinks from the audience. "I'm not a (expletive) drunk," he growled.

She vants to be alone

Seeing Halle Berry--in Seattle to plug her new HBO film about Dorothy Dandridge--was an exercise in deja vu. After experimenting with a multitude of hairstyles ranging from faux dreads to long ringlets, she was back to the same trademark short 'do that Oprah Winfrey hairstyling guru Andre Walker gave her back in the day when she was a struggling actress living in Chicago.

But though she looked like a blast from the past, she served up a new and improved Halle at a panel on entertainment journalism--sharp, articulate and surprisingly feisty.

Her take on the debate over a celeb's right to privacy versus the journalist's right to ask probing questions: "I went through a very public divorce (from David Justice). I still had to eat, promote my movie, do what the studio wanted me to do. I wasn't always in the mood to talk about my ex-husband. Sometimes you can't time something that is tragic in your life with the opening of your movie."

He feels our pain

Al Gore to a roomful of journalists: "I used to be a City Hall reporter. I know what it's like to go to every office and bureau every day and ask, `What have you got for me? What's going on? Come on, you can do better than that. What are you doing for lunch?' "

In Seattle, Harvard prof/author/thinker West, 46, was a constant fixture, from introducing presidential candidate Bill Bradley at the Unity '99 conference of minority journalists to engaging in a spirited debate with conservative thinker Shelby Steele to hanging with the regular folks:

Q--You describe yourself as a radical democrat, with a small "d." Which black conservative do you see as being more dangerous to the cause: Ward Connerly or Clarence Thomas?

A--I would never want to state that a black conservative was dangerous. White supremacy is the danger. When you look deep into the souls of black people, you still see the marks of white supremacy.

Q--So what's with your support of Bill Bradley?

A--Like Aretha, like Tennessee (Williams), he puts his soul on the table. To do that, it means you're vulnerable, you take a risk--and you open other people's souls up. But I'm not endorsing him. You don't endorse or support family. I think that surprises people, that I'm connected to him.

Q--Where'd you meet him?

A--Ten years ago, he gathered a bunch of intellectuals together to talk. We'd meet for three days. Each day, we'd engage in intellectual discussion for nine hours. And then we'd just kick it.

Q--You talk about the effects of racism and how the little ways it manifests can be the most wounding. Do you still experience that kind of racism?

A--Absolutely. I've been followed around in stores. You go into Tiffany's and everything shifts. Suddenly, it's "Negro made entree! Negro made entree!"

Q--What do you make of the recent surge in white supremacy, particularly the violence associated with Benjamin Smith?

A--He's a white brother gone crazy. It's part of the breakdown of our society. So many young people are dangling. They get swept up by these fanatical groups. We're going to see more of this, unfortunately. There's a lot of pain out there. And the right wing really feeds on that.

Q--Well, so does the left wing.

A--But the left wing is so weak. We don't understand how to gain a footage in the American culture.

Q--So what's the good news?

A--We've got young, courageous visionaries. But it's going to be a serious challenge.